By: Mark Fitzgerald An employee committee formed to investigate the Washington Post's problems with retaining journalists of color concludes that minorities are often discouraged by a "tense" and bureaucratic newsroom that coddles stars but leaves rookies adrift and isolated.
In addition, the group, known informally as the diversity committee, reveals that nearly half of the newsroom jobs filled between January 2003 and October 2005 were never posted. The vast majority of the unpublicized positions went to white journalists, the group says.
"Of 288 jobs that were filled, about 45% were unposted," the group writes in the 36-page "Report on Diversity in the Washington Post Newsroom."
"Of those unposted jobs, 74% went to non-minorities," the report adds.
For these and other reasons, the report says, from 1989 through 2003, two of every black, Asian, and Latino journalist hired ended up leaving the newspaper. It noted that the Post is recruiting journalists of color at a higher rate than similarly sized papers, but added, "those efforts are undermined by greater rates of turnover among minority staff when compared to white counterparts."
In 1989, the report says, the Post employed 84 journalists of color, and hired an additional 195 over the next five years. But in that time, 138 minority journalists left the paper, according to the report.
It is "an exodus that has greatly undermined the newspaper's diversity goals and, more importantly, the paper's ability to cover our rapidly changing metro area," the report concludes.
The report is dated Dec. 9, 2005, and states it was "not developed or intended for distribution or dissemination outside of The Washington Post." Mediabistro.com's Washington media gossip blog
FishBowlDC posted the report last week, and Richard Prince reported extensively on it in his online newsletter "
Journal-isms.
The Washington Post's struggle to retain journalists of color is hardly unique among newspapers. But interest in the topic flared in 2004 when Philip Bennett, who is white, was named managing editor. Some employees believed Eugene Robinson, an African American, should have been offered the job.
The employee committee, which emphasized in its report that it was endorsed by Executive Editor Leonard Downie Jr., Bennett, and Deputy Managing Editor Milton Coleman, surveyed some 50 current and former newsroom employees, asking them about the Post,s newsroom culture, opportunities for advancement, and training procedures. Downie was not immediately available for comment on the report Tuesday afternoon, his office said.
Though the report praises Post management for recent initiatives to improve internal communications and diversity, it portrays a "cold" newsroom with layers of management that tends to leave minority journalists, especially, feeling isolated and adrift without meaningful feedback from senior editors.
Newsroom employees said the Post newsroom has a confusing "star system."
"Newsroom morale is hurt by the perception that top editors are only interested in certain stars and that only a chosen few -- rarely minorities -- get the kind of feedback they need to become stars," the report says. "There should be a more formal mechanism in place to help reporters learn what they need to do to be considered for promotions or top assignments. One idea would be to encourage the AME, deputy, or other top editors in the section to meet with concerned reporters and their assignment editors for a detailed discussion on priorities."
The Post has recently accelerated its review process, the committee noted, adding that in the past employees could go years without getting an "annual review."
But there were staff complaints that the system of awarding merit pay raises is unclear.
"To retain more minority reporters, the committee concludes, "the Post should have a better evaluation process, improved career development, and a more dynamic approach to mentoring and assisting younger journalists and new employees."
Comments
No comments on this item Please log in to comment by clicking here